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Page from choir book with illuminated initial
Leaf from an Antiphonary
Page from choir book with illuminated initial
Italian
Medieval (Late Gothic)
15th century
Place of Manufacture: Italy
Medium/Technique
Tempera and ink with gold on parchment
Dimensions
Overall (page dimensions): 54.7 x 36.9 cm (21 9/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Nathaniel T. Kidder
Accession NumberRES.38.34
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts – Manuscripts
DescriptionA single leaf from an antiphonary, a book containing the sung portions of the Divine Office.
1 column of 8 staves in Latin. Bounding lines in light plummet, doubled and full-length to upper and lower edges, writing lines in light plummet, with upper and lower bounding lines for each line of text. Heightened square notation on a four-line red staff, C-clef indicated.
Written in a Italian rotunda script in black ink with red rubrics. On recto, three-staff-high [S] (for "Spiritus domini…") in light salmon on gold background with small amount of acanthus in colors, a few gold balls with a single ray, historiated with the Pentecost: nimbed half-figures of Mary and apostles in lower compartment, Mary in blue with hands crossed, watching as the holy spirit descends from the upper compartment through white clouds on a blue background, projecting red rays into the lower compartment.
1 column of 8 staves in Latin. Bounding lines in light plummet, doubled and full-length to upper and lower edges, writing lines in light plummet, with upper and lower bounding lines for each line of text. Heightened square notation on a four-line red staff, C-clef indicated.
Written in a Italian rotunda script in black ink with red rubrics. On recto, three-staff-high [S] (for "Spiritus domini…") in light salmon on gold background with small amount of acanthus in colors, a few gold balls with a single ray, historiated with the Pentecost: nimbed half-figures of Mary and apostles in lower compartment, Mary in blue with hands crossed, watching as the holy spirit descends from the upper compartment through white clouds on a blue background, projecting red rays into the lower compartment.
InscriptionsFoliated by a contemporary hand on verso in red Roman capitals, "CCIII"; foliated by a sixteenth-century hand on recto as "c. 203".
Provenance1938, bequest of Nathaniel T. Kidder (1896-1938) to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 13, 1938)